Mayor: Inaugural Rock 'n' Roll race 'exceeded expectations"

Savannah Mayor Edna Jackson talks about Saturday’s Rock ’n’ Roll Savannah Marathon during a news conference Thursday afternoon in Johnson Square. The band Listen 2 Three listens at the right of the stage.

In August 2010, local politicians and business people gathered in Johnson Square to formally announce a new endeavor, the Rock ’n’ Roll Savannah Marathon.

The event included two staples of the national running series’ brand: music, in the form of Southern rockers The Train Wrecks; and cheerleaders, from Armstrong Atlantic State University.

Almost exactly 27 months later, there was another gathering Thursday afternoon at Johnson Square. The city has a different mayor in Edna Jackson, the music was provided by Listen 2 Three and the spirited Island High School cheerleaders took time away from classes.

But enthusiasm has only grown on the cusp of the second annual Rock ’n’ Roll Savannah Marathon & Half Marathon, which is 8 a.m. Saturday.

“I’m so excited,” Jackson said from the temporary podium in the square. “The Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon is one of the things that makes Savannah one of the greatest places to visit.”

The 2011 race was capped at 23,000 entries and included about 19,600 runners in the full and halfmarathons — only about 10 percent of whom were locals. Savannah set a United States record for the largest inaugural half-marathon with 14,163 finishers, according to Running USA.

For some, the event’s reported $32 million economic impact was even more eye-catching, and Chatham County Commission chairman Pete Liakakis said optimistically Thursday that “maybe $35 million or more” could be generated this weekend.

“It really exceeded our expectations,” Jackson, who was Mayor Pro Tem to Mayor Otis Johnson in 2010, said after the news conference. “We thought, this is new to Savannah, how will it be received? When you look at all of the people who came in for the marathon, it spoke volumes for what this organization has been able to do. We’re just so happy to partner with Competitor (Group, which operates the series) to bring this back to our community.”

All of which is music to the ears of Joe Marinelli, president of Visit Savannah.

He first broached the idea to the Savannah City Council of bringing in the Rock ’n’ Roll event, which differs from homegrown races by lining the 26.2-mile course with live bands and cheerleading squads. More than a sporting event, it would line the pockets of local businesses such as hotels, restaurants and shops as thousands of people from desirable demographics visited Savannah from around the country and perhaps the world.

It would be, Marinelli said in his presentation, “the closest thing Savannah would ever have to a Super Bowl.”

On Thursday, Marinelli met again with the council and said afterward that he referenced his prediction.

“A year ago we delivered on this promise,” Marinelli said in a telephone interview. “Here we are in year No. 2, and we don’t have to explain what the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon is anymore.

“The greatest accomplishment, I think, is we’ve proved to ourselves Savannah can welcome an event of this nature, like it does with the music festival and film festival.”

Smaller but bigger

The fact that Savannah is among the smallest, if not the smallest, market in the Rock ’n’ Roll series is “insignificant,” according to Tracy Sundlun, senior vice president of Events for the Competitor Group.

“If 17,000 people are coming, I don’t need 40,000 hotel rooms,” said Sundlun, referencing the current number expected as of Thursday. “I think the beauty of the ‘smaller markets’ is that they embrace the event to a much greater degree. It’s more important to them. It’s more important to the city. The event is a bigger deal in a market this size than in Los Angeles.”

The series stages marathons in major sports cities such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, New Orleans and San Diego, where the original Rock ’n’ Roll race was run in 1998. Savannah already has made a great impression on Sundlun.

“Just the ambiance, just the uniqueness that is Savannah obviously stood out,” he said of the 2011 event.

Fan of SSU

His strongest memory was the full marathon’s stretch past Savannah State University, which featured some of the most supportive and enthusiastic spectators along the entire course.

“Of all of the events I’ve been to anywhere in the world, going by Savannah State felt the most like going through Wellesley (College) in Boston,” he said of the Boston Marathon’s famous route. “The students were absolutely crazed. It was just deafening and it was so cool.”

As a result, the course was altered to put more mileage (2.5 miles) at SSU — an entire lap around the campus and on the track at T.A. Wright Stadium.

“It’s right at 18 miles (mark), so things are getting tough for the runners at that point,” said the course’s designer, Doug Thurston, Vice President of Course Operations and Community Development for Competitor. “They could really use that boost.”

Thurston listened to comments from runners and others in Savannah and made more than a few tweaks. One of the changes was in the historic district, as the 2011 course was not straight out of the tourist guidebook.

“The feedback was we didn’t get to see any squares, not one of them last year,” said Thurston, who will have runners going by Pulaski and Troup squares and around Lafayette Square. “They wanted in many ways a postcard view of the city. The city also wanted to show the cultural diversity of the city. That’s why they wanted to include West Savannah.”

Or, as Sundlun put it, “We’ll spend a lot more time under Spanish moss than we did last year. We’re going to spend more time in some of the communities, less on Truman Parkway. I think people will leave with an even better impression of Savannah.”

Lonely road

Truman Parkway left a strong impression, and not necessarily a positive one, on the full marathoners who struggled against powerful wind gusts and maybe a little boredom. The half-marathoners, whose 13.1-mile route avoided that stretch of asphalt, only heard about it later.

“We had to use the Truman so we didn’t lock down east-west access to the city,” Thurston explained. “We reversed it (this year) so they had the minimum amount on the Truman at the end of the race.”

The marathoners will hit the highway twice on their journey for a total of about 3.2 miles.

Thurston also brings runners through the Washington Avenue neighborhood along Daffin Park with a sightline to Grayson Stadium. A lot of thought, effort and cooperation with city and county entities went into building a course exactly 26.2 miles that includes a 13.1-mile route run concurrently.

“We ask for the patience of the community,” Thurston said. “We ask for their consideration. But generally, most people accept it might be a minor inconvenience, but on the whole it’s something great for Savannah.”

Thurston, for one, likes the course better this year.

“It’s much more attractive,” he said. “I think it’s just as fast as the course last year. I think runners will like the tour of the city that they will see.”

Note

While the New York City Marathon is going on as scheduled Sunday despite the impact of Sandy, entrants can opt to run in Savannah.

Rock ’n’ Roll Savannah will have discounted entries available today while in-person registration continues from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Health and Fitness Expo at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center.

Runners must present a New York City Marathon confirmation sheet for the discount.

Marinelli noted several inquiries from interested runners on social media sites, and Sundlun said he met a couple traveling through Savannah this week who decided to avoid the complications in New York and stay for Saturday’s marathon.

There is no registration on race day.

ON THE WEB

For video of race executive Tracy Sundlun talking about his favorite moment from the 2011 event, go to savannahnow.com/sports.